INGEBRIGTSEN SERVES NOTICE
by Richard Mach
He’s After It! The Tokyo Olympic 1500 m champion, the young Norwegian, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, is now most certainly on the hunt for the world record of 3:43.13 set 23 seasons ago in 1999 by the Moroccan, Hicham El Guerrouj. No longer any question about it. In his home stadium, Bislett, in Oslo in front of his nation’s people, now a short month from the 2022 World Championships to be held in Hayward Field’s newly renovated stadium, the youngster — in the middle of June — went out in 56.5, 1:53.5 and 2:49.4 for the first 3 laps, then closed to run the fastest mile on record in the past 21 years. His time of 3:46.46 barely missed eclipsing the European record set 37 yrs ago by the former WRH, Steve Cram of Great Britain, by but 0.14 seconds. Australia’s Oliver Hoare, hot on his heels until the last 170 meters, finished second and took down the Oceanian record with his PB of 3:47.48. Ingebrigtsen already holds the indoor 1500 m record taking down the old by 0.46 seconds in 3:30.60. And outdoors in the 1500 m he ran 3:28.32 in Tokyo, which is superior {when converted by the 1.08 factor} to his mile time yesterday by nearly a second and a half.
In a little over 3 weeks now, the World Championships will begin its 10 day extravaganza at the newly comprehensively renovated Hayward Field on the Oregon campus. And the men’s 1500 m race, 109 m short of a mile, is shaping up to be something not to miss. Because, if the weather holds temperate and free of rain, an attack on the now seriously aging world record in the 1500 m , also set by El G, of 3:26.00 may be in the offing. If the time @ 800 m is sub 1:52 it will be time to get excited. There are no pacers, so someone like Spain’s Mohamed Katir will have to sacrifice himself to take the best in the world out under that split. The competition is there, the race important enough and the conditioning of the front row competitors right on the line.
Ingebrigtsen’s competition? Witness Timothy Cheruiyot, the world’s premier miler 3 out of the last 4 full seasons along with the Kenyan phenom, Abel Kipsang, who, earlier this year ran 3:31.01 at Nairobi’s nearly 6,000 ft elevation, a time — some contend — equivalent to 3:25 at sea level, a second less than El G’s current 3:26.00 WR. And then there’s Oli’s Aussie teammate, Stu McSweyn, a 3:48 miler and a gunner who likes to set a torrid pace and go for broke. And Samuel Tefera, the Ethiopian, who has beaten Jakob indoors in the WCs. And whose new world indoor WR @ 1500 m, Ingebrigtsen took down could be right at the front. With all the conditions including temperate weather on the beam, we could see something verging now at a quarter of a century finally, at last, go down. This extensive period where the mile record has remained inviolate is, by far, the longest since record keeping for the mile began.
Perhaps, however, most telling in this race may be the presence of Hoare. The Australian has established — most importantly for himself — what he is capable of running still relatively early in the season. And he has shown the mettle to not let Jakob go in the latter stages of the race. In Oslo, he remained within striking distance all the way up the back stretch on the final lap until the Norwegian began separating with but half the last curve and the straightaway to go. And came home but a full second behind.
The hippest track and field crowd in the Americas will be on hand @ Eugene — perhaps including a few of our readers as well as the rest of the world’s aficionados . So, again, if the weather holds in Eugene and doesn’t spontaneously combust that porkpie hat you’re covering that balding pate within the stands and the big heaters remain healthy and show up to try to steal the race away from the Norwegian, we’re looking at the conditions necessary to bring off the assault of the long standing world record.
The youngster doesn’t have everything going for him. He will be 2 months short of 22 at this writing. His mechanics are hardly something to be desired. The Moroccan WRH flew above the track showing — seemingly relatively little contact with it — and was exquisitely fluid with every part moving in a straight line forward. Jakob is a heel striker it appears, he runs into the track more than over it: and so must cope with the additional challenge of using more of his energy to absorb and translate the shock with each of his foot strikes. He is “heavy” in the middle — long waisted — and so carries a bit more ‘necessary’ weight than might, otherwise, be optimal. His 800 PB is 1:46.44 run @ 19 while he has run 12:48.45 @ age 20 for 5,000 m. His 5000 m performances are highly competitive; his 800 m not. He must get away from the guys with maximum stamina and leg speed before that last 100 m. He cannot risk getting into a footrace with anyone more fleet of foot down the last stretch. I must also note that his splits at Bislett were all within 1.2 seconds of one another, and most remarkably, his 3rd 400 m spilt was the fastest of the 4 in 55.9.
Just for the record, in order to run one hundredth of a second faster that the present world mile record, the competitor must average 55.78 per quarter mile. So, an exact even paced mile dipping but a 100th of a second under El G’s record would show splits of 55.78, 1:51.56 and 2:47.34
Given the fast pace of the modern world, many occurrences between now and the WCs could significantly change the complexion of the 1500 m final. But, at the moment, the young Ingebrigtsen must be seen as the favorite with Hoare and the two Kenyans and the Ethiopian right at the front in the mix. And that is a
heady mixture for the possibility of setting a world record in front of the knowledgable, frenzied, vastly appreciative crowd any Track and Field World Championship always promises.
We include below last week's Bislett Mile and an 19 minute bio of El Guerrouj, ed.
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